Studio Apartment Layout Ideas: Living Small is Looking Good
Apartments are getting smaller, and there are more single-person households than ever before. This means more people are living in studio apartments, homes where the sleeping and living areas are in one room.
Studio apartment living comes with its challenges, from storage to layout ideas. There is less space in a studio, but you still want to create separate living and sleeping areas to maintain the feel of a one-bedroom apartment.
Luckily, there are many ways to create a functional and stylish home in a one-room apartment. In this article, we’ll dive into studio apartment layout ideas.
What is the best way to furnish your studio to create the perfect home? Every floor plan comes with its challenges ánd advantages. From a niche to high ceilings, make the most of your home’s architectural layout to create the best studio for you.
A Rectangular Studio Apartment Layout
Most studio apartments have a rectangular layout, which gives you plenty of opportunities to design your studio in a way that suits you best.
Side by Side Furniture With or Without a Room Divider
The most common way to decorate a studio apartment is to place the sofa and the bed side by side along the long wall. You can add a room divider (such as an industrial glass wall, a bookcase, or a folding screen) to create separate zones, or leave it open to make your small home feel more spacious.
The benefit of a glass room divider is the unobstructed flow of natural light while also creating separate zones. By adding a curtain, you can also keep it open and bright or create a more cozy, closed-off sleeping nook.
In this Swedish studio apartment, they opted for a bookcase room divider that is closed at the bottom to create a cozy bedroom niche and open at the top to allow natural light to flow into the sleeping area.
If you love a Scandinavian or a Japandi style for your studio apartment, you can take inspiration from this gorgeous studio in Gothenburg.
The sand-colored walls and wooden floorboards add a natural vibe to the space, while a simple white textured rug and a floating nightstand divide the space into living and sleeping areas.
The Sofa on the Opposite Side of the Bed
The most common studio layouts place the bed and sofa next to each other or on opposite sides. In this studio, the kitchen and the sleeping area are side by side (divided by a glass wall) while the sofa is placed opposite the kitchen.
It depends on the width of your studio apartment if you can place the sofa and the bed on opposite sides. In narrow layouts, it doesn’t leave enough space to move from one side to the other, making the studio feel cramped.
In the studio above, the sofa and the bed are placed on opposite sides, leaving enough space to walk. A bed niche has been created with a custom wardrobe wall that even runs above the doorway. It combines storage space with zoning in one simple move.
What a cozy space this is! The atmospheric lighting really helps to turn this small home into a cozy haven. As for the layout, with the bed in front of the window, the rest of the space can be used for living, eating, and cooking.
Also, notice the use of color in this studio. The main area is painted in a lighter shade, while the hall and kitchen are darker, creating a subtle divide between the areas.
Use the Sofa as a Room Divider
In the studio apartment shown above, you can also place the sofa at an angle, or even with its back to the window, so your view from the sofa isn’t directed toward the kitchen. Place a desk against the back of the sofa, and you’ve also added a work area.
A Studio with a Raised Sleeping Area
This studio apartment has a usual rectangular layout, but to create different zones, the sleeping area has been raised, and a half-high wall has been added between the sofa and the sleeping area. You can also opt for a bookcase or a (folding) screen to separate the zones.
Adding storage is so important in a studio apartment to keep it clutter-free. A raised bed is an excellent way to kill two birds with one stone. It allows you to create a separate sleeping area, while also adding so much storage in drawers under the bed (and even the stairs can be used for storage).
The Sleeping Area at the Far End With A Curtain
Most studios have a window along one of the short walls. But in this studio, the windows are along the long wall, allowing a sleeping niche at the far end which can be hidden from view by a curtain, without losing natural light.
The Bed or the Sofa In Front of the Window
Do you place the bed or the sofa in front of the window? This depends somewhat on the placement of other elements in the studio, such as the kitchen, hall, and bathroom.
This soft-pink studio placed the bed in front of the balcony doors, with a comfy armchair beside it. The kitchen is on the other side of the apartment, so it makes sense to have the living areas side by side and the sleeping area at the far end.
This bright studio apartment features a balcony with sliding glass doors. It makes sense to place the sitting area by the doors so the living area can be extended in the warmer months by opening them.
A Square Studio Apartment Layout
A small, square studio floor plan is perhaps the most difficult layout to design. There is often not enough room for room dividers, and you really have to prioritize your main functions.
A Table in Front of the Window
Despite the small size, this studio has a double bed placed against two walls. In front of the window, a seating area/dining space has been created with a round table and comfortable chairs, where you can lounge and dine.
Choose Between a Bed or a Sofa
In this small, square studio, there is no lounge furniture, but a folding table has been placed next to the bed, which can serve as a dining space and a home office. The bed can be turned into a sofa with cozy pillows and blankets.
Maximize all available storage space in a studio apartment. Open cabinets have been placed above the upper kitchen cabinets for extra storage.
The Sofa as the Heart of the Room
No matter how small you live, you need to have space to move; that’s why, in some cases, it’s better to place the sofa and the bed along the same wall. In this studio, there is enough space to place the sofa in the center of the room, on the opposite side of the bed.
The sofa is flanked by the bed, a bookcase, and a dining table. This is thanks to the apartment’s square layout, which allows enough space to walk behind the bed and move around.
Combine Room Dividing Tricks
This studio is located in an old commercial space, and thanks to its wide and long layout, the sofa can be placed in the center of the room with its back toward the front door, creating a separate entry.
The curtains around the bed create a cozy sleeping niche and also provide space for a small dining table and a desk at the foot of the bed. Adding curtains is such an easy and rental-friendly way to create zones.
See also: 53 studio apartments with a curtain room divider
Place the Sofa under the Window Facing the Bed
Most of the time, you see furniture along two walls, but you can also place the sofa under the window facing the bed. It creates plenty of walking/living space, and you can add larger storage furniture (like a floor-to-ceiling bookcase) that also houses a television.
An L-Shaped Studio Apartment Layout
The L-shaped studio apartment layout is the best if you want to create a separate sleeping corner. The niche can function as the sleeping area, and it’s easy and low-cost to (almost) turn this into a one-bedroom apartment.
This Swedish studio apartment features a niche large enough for a double bed. Floor-to-ceiling beige curtains transform this studio into a one-bedroom apartment.
In this Swedish studio apartment, the alcove serves as a sleeping corner, with a white curtain that can be drawn to obscure it. I like how they painted the niche a different (and darker) color than the rest of the apartment, making it a cozy spot that feels distinctly separate from the living area.
In this studio apartment, it’s not the bedroom that is situated in the niche but the kitchen. It’s nice to always look at your kitchen space from your sitting or sleeping area. In this studio, they opted for the common layout with a sofa and a bed side by side.
A Studio Apartment with High Ceilings
No matter the layout, high ceilings are a huge advantage when designing a studio apartment. Make the most of this extra space by adding a loft bed and using it for storage space.
A Loft Bed Above the Seating Area
This studio apartment with high ceilings features a loft area with space for a double bed above the seating area. With a loft bed, you create extra space to accommodate a comfortable seating area and a dining table.
An added bonus is that you don’t always have a view of your bedroom, which makes it feel like you’re living in a one-bedroom home.
A Sleeping Area Above the Kitchen or Hall
Sometimes, space above the kitchen or hall can be converted into a loft sleeping area.
Use the Unusual Layout to Your Advantage
It’s possible that your studio is not square, rectangular, or L-shaped. Try to use the unusual layout to your advantage as much as you can. A small niche can be used for storage, and an angled wall can turn one corner into a cozy sleeping nook.
In this studio, they used the angled wall in combination with a steel-framed glass room divider to create a cozy sleeping niche. A curtain can be drawn in front of the steel divider to add even more privacy.
I hope these studio apartment layouts gave you plenty of ideas to decorate your own studio. It’s not about the size of your home; it’s the layout that helps to create the perfect home base.
